Geek.com has a link to a pretty cool product – for about 500 euro, that is…
It’s a fiber optic bedspread.
I am guessing this will keep you up at night, so I imagine this is a “just for show” kind of thing. Of course, it could be that I am just very old fashioned when it comes to fiber-optic bedspreads.
Looks very cool, could be pretty silly…in which case, “looks very cool” usually wins!
Wired Magazine has a great piece on touchtables – those massive iPhone-like touch screens on tables. This is actually from PBS through Wired, but it tells a great story if you have a minute to check it out.
This particular video discusses Google Earth and our friends in Iran and their nuclear ambitions, as well as other things you can find using Google Earth and how much one of these touchtables make that so easy to work with.
The past couple of weeks, a new malicious and particularly virulent worm known as Downadup, also more popularly known as Conficker has started to infect millions of PCs. In fact by some estimates, it has infected over 10 million PCs worldwide. As with many threats proper prevention can greatly reduce or eliminate your problem.
This worm is particularly dangerous as it can infect your PC in many ways. You can be infected by simply visiting your favorite Web site, downloading a file or email from the Internet, loading a USB drive, or just by leaving your networked computer on, overnight while you’re asleep.
The worm takes advantage of known vulnerabilities in Windows to spread. Its removal can be difficult, as it blocks many known antivirus software and associated websites. In some cases it even disables antivirus software already installed or the Windows Update service.
After infection, it may choose to run rogue software on the machine, or use it as a host to infect other machines. Particularly troubling, security experts believe, is that on April 1st, a new variant of the worm will begin to randomly check various websites on the Internet to download new instructions. What those instructions are unknown at this point and could be anything as harmless as telling a joke, displaying an ad or as harmful as destroying files or even stealing usernames and passwords.
The worm itself is not new, it made its first appearance late November 2008, known under the names Conficker or Kido. It shouldn’t have spread if people had made sure to the latest Windows and other updates were applied to their PCs and have kept up to date with their security vendors’ latest antivirus releases. Also since it spreads via network shares, making sure to use strong passwords on shared network drives would have helped to contain it early as well.
If you aren’t sure if your PC and network are protected, make sure to contact your IT service provider for advice.
Here are some other articles you might want to check out for more information:
Related articles:
Looking for a website or online resource for Security Tips and Best Practices? Check out the Federal Trade Commission‘s (FTC) OnGuardOnline program, which the FTC began in partnership with cybersecurity experts, online marketers, consumer advocates, and federal officials in 2005. While there, check out the articles and free resources such as videos, games, and downloadable files to help you guard against Internet fraud, hacking, and other security threats.The site also offers the following seven vital security practices:
If you suspect Internet fraud, you can register a complaint using this form. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database used by law enforcement officials in the U.S. and overseas. Check out the site or contact your IT Consultant to help you implement the recommendations from the site.
Related articles:
Social Media such as Blogs, Micro-blogs, Wikis, and Social Networks are not only helping many people communicate and connect, but are also powerful tools for business as well. They can be used to promote your products and services, engage customers in meaningful conversations, network and develop new relationships, or simply to distribute information about your business online. Recently, the media has been awash with reports about Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, but many of you may be unclear about the concept, or unsure of its relevance to your business activities. Learn more about this new media online. Get to know how these tools can benefit your business or contact your IT Consultant for advice.
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This is a rather provocative concept: What your email provider says about you.
Does it really say anything about you if your email is provided by gmail versus hotmail? Hmmm…maybe it does!
CIO magazine, by way of ComputerWorld, has the story here.
LifeHacker recently posted about a site called “AlternativeTo”, which quickly shows alternatives to key Windows (and Linux and Mac) applications.
Need an alternative to Photoshop and its $600+ price tag? “AlternativeTo” has it.
This is an excellent site – highly recommended.
If you get this one, you’ll know…Antivirus 2009.
It is a nasty piece of malware (malicious software). It pops us, tells you that your anti-virus is out of date, and asks for your credit card and such to “update” your anti-virus software.
It is spyware/malware, so that means DO NOT give any data at all!
This one is ugly. The best way to handle it when this comes up? Shut your PC/workstation down using the power button, then call your IT services provider for a fix. If you click anywhere on the window – even the “X” in the upper right corner to close the window – it plants itself. The task manager can sometimes be helpful if the malware has not completely nailed itself in to your system. You will know if you are hit by this baby when you restart your PC and it is there…and won’t go away.
Once you have been infected, there are some things you have to do manually to make this baby go away.
Here are some links here and here with good info on how to clean up this beast.
Here is some current news regarding the Conficker worm, and new damage it is showing.
Fox News has a report here on the University of Utah getting hit (and more)
It looks like the big Conficker threat is to get you to buy bogus anti-virus software. eWeek has a report here.
CNet has more details on the fake anti-virus software here.
ComputerWorld had a report Friday, April 10, that said:
Windows PCs infected with the Conficker worm have turned into junk mail-spewing robots capable of sending billions of spam messages a day, a security company warned today.
As we see more, we’ll post it here. Stay tuned!
Still wondering if you may be infected with the Conficker worm?
Go here. If what you get looks like the image above, you are good to go.
This was put out buy the Conficker Working Group, and is very handy.
One of the known results of the Conficker worm is that it will block access to well known security sites (to make it more difficult to remove). So very simply: if you can see the images above, when going to the Conficker Working Group site here, then you are good. If you don’t get all the images you may have to do some cleaning up, and the site shows you what to do.
Tip of the hat to Lifehacker.com.
Tim Gillen, Virtual IT Director
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